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2/28/19

If you are looking to impress your guests with a dessert that takes less than 10 minutes to make, I give you Dark Chocolate Puffed Pastry Braid With Hazelnuts.Last weekend I went to brunch at a friend's house and promised to bring dessert. I google'd braided dessert and found this beauty from Living Locurto. You start with store-bought puffed pastry. Mine came from the refrigerated section, so there was no need to defrost it.You then buy 2 bars of chocolate. Of course I went for the dark variety. You'll have at least 1/2 of one of the bars leftover, so buy the chocolate you'll want to eat. Go check out the braiding directions on Amy's blog. Once the oven is preheated to 425, use a beaten egg to lightly glaze the braided puffed pastry with the chocolate inside and bake on top of a parchment lined cookie sheet for about 15 minutes.Remove the braid from the oven and top with chopped hazelnuts and bake for 5-10 more minutes until the puffed pastry is golden brown. Do not burn your nuts ;)Allow the braid to cool down slightly and top with powdered sugar.Ooh! Aah! This is such a beauty and tastes just as good if not better. You can experiment with different nuts and types of chocolate. Maybe even try peanut butter and jelly as the filling?

2/26/19

Have you heard of Alison Roman's Spiced Chickpea Stew With Coconut and Turmeric that went viral a while back? What's not to like? A combination of chickpeas and coconut milk is perfect for cold winter months, plus greens to make you feel even better about eating this rich stew.Speaking of rich, 2 cans of full fat coconut milk sounded like a lot! Instead of making Alison's recipe, I decided to use only one can, increase the amount of chicken broth to make the stew into a soup, and add rotisserie turkey breast for extra protein. I also added chopped red pepper at the end for crunch and color, and used parsley instead of mint.

Just look at that color! I'm having this soup for lunch today (I had it yesterday too and will also eat it tomorrow and Thursday: perfect #mealprep). You can serve the soup as is or on top of rice or with a side of toast.

2/19/19

Roasted Beet Salad With Chipotle Vinaigrette looks beautiful plated, and tastes even better once you mix all the ingredients together.I was inspired to create this salad after seeing a picture of beets on my friend Laura's insta story and asking her what she was going to make with them. Laura sent me a link to her recipe for Roasted Chipotle Beets With Goat Cheese & Egg Tostadas. I took some of the same ingredients, added a few extras, and turned it into a salad!Roasted Beet Salad With Chipotle VinaigretteIngredientsbeets, scrubbedolive oilavocado, slicedred pepper, slicedblue cheese, crumbled6 minute egg (put eggs in cold water, cover, bring to a boil, shut off the heat, wait 6 minutes, cool in an ice bath, peel, slice)cilantrofor the dressing3 tablespoons olive oil2 tablespoons red wine vinegar1-2 tablespoons adobo sauce from a can of chiles in adobo 1 tablespoons lime juice plus extra lime wedgessalt to tasteDirections1. Preheat the oven to 425. Put beets on an aluminum foil, drizzle with olive oil, wrap, and roast for about 1 hour, depending on the size. Cool slightly, peel, dice.2. Arrange the beets, avocado, red pepper, blue cheese crumbles, sliced egg, and cilantro on a plate.3. Whisk the dressing ingredients together.For the purposes of the photo, I poured the dressing into a little bowl. You shall pour it onto the other ingredients.The dressing was awesome! It could also act a a marinade for chicken if you want.If you love beets, definitely make this salad.

2/13/19

Vietnamese Lamb Meatballs Rice Noodle Bowl is a recipe that comes together quickly, is absolutely gorgeous, and is packed with flavors, colors and textures.Last week, my friends from American Lamb sent me a pound of ground lamb!! I typically make lamb meatballs with garlic, salt & pepper and maybe feta, but was intrigued by the Vietnamese flavors American Lamb suggested. Sometimes it is actually fun to follow a recipe and go grocery shopping with a list of ingredients in mind. Luckily, the recipe worked perfectly. You can find it here. I made my meatballs into smaller balls than the recipe called for and froze some for future use.The meatballs are flavored with lemongrass, shallot, garlic, and fresh ginger and don't require an egg, milk, or bread crumbs. Using a little scoop really helps to make sure they are uniform.

I highly recommend you double the Nuoc Cham dressing: it's so good! Don't be afraid of fish sauce.

2/5/19

Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole With Italian Sausage & Peppers is a great one skillet brunch or breakfast dish to make to share with friends, or can be an easy dinner with leftovers for lunch the next day.You know about Taco Tuesday, but what about Tater Tot Tuesday? Let's start this new movement ;)This past Sunday, a few friends came for brunch at my place, and I decided to make up my own version of a tater tot breakfast casserole after seeing quite a few versions on line.First, I knew I wanted to make the entire casserole in one dish instead of browning the meat in a skillet and then transferring to a baking dish.Second, I did not understand why some recipes put the tater tots on the bottom: who wants soggy tater tots?Finally, instead of prepping all the ingredients first, I chopped peppers and onions while the Italian sausage was cooking, and shredded the cheese while the peppers and onions were sauteing: this saved me so much time!Tater Tot Tuesday: Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole With Italian Sausage & PeppersServes 6Ingredients16 ounces Italian mild sausage2 orange peppers1 onionsalt & pepper8 ounce block cheese (I used a combination of Mozzarella and Cheddar)8 eggs1/2 cup milk28 ounce bag frozen tater totsparsley, choppedDirections1. Preheat the oven to 350F.2. In a large oven-proof skillet, brown Italian sausage.3. Meanwhile, dice the peppers and the onion.4. Remove the sausage into a bowl, and use the skillet to saute the peppers and onion seasoned with salt and pepper until tender, about 10 minutes. Depending on the fat content of the sausage, you may need to add a bit of olive oil to the skillet. 5. Meanwhile, shred the cheese.6. Add the browned sausage back into the skillet.7. In the bowl that held the sausage, whisk the eggs with the milk, season with salt and pepper, and add all but 1/2 cup of shredded cheese.8. Pour the egg mixture over the pepper/onion/sausage mixture.9. Layer tater tots in concentric circles.10. Bake the casserole for 45 minutes.11. Remove the casserole from the oven and evenly top with the remaining cheese. Bake for 5 more minutes.12. Top with parsley.before

My Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole was a huge success! You can vary the recipe by adding mushrooms or broccoli and changing the types of cheese you use. The leftovers reheat quite well.This is my table setting: flowers are a must!